A Phoenix in the Wind
by kaida-amarante
Summary: Antonio is Bryn Kirkland's personal servant, born into a family forced to serve the Kirklands. Too bad he fell in love with the boy. When a war starts between the two families, what will happen to the star-crossed lovers? SpainxOC, AU, Character Death
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I like this story. But then again, I love Romeo and Juliet and the theory of reincarnation. I apologize in advance for any grammar and/or spelling errors. If you guys like this, I have some more ideas I'd like to use with this plot. I could easily make it multi-chapter, each chapter showing how their relationship progressed over time and how their relationship is still progressing. But that's only if you guys like it. So please review!**

-0-

I was born into a family of servants. Born to be a servant. Which is why it was so shocking that Bryn took such an interest in me. Bryn was the second oldest son of the Kirkland family, and was the same age as me. We were eight when he was allowed to choose his personal servant, and out of the line-up, I was picked. I was a few months older than the blonde, so it was allowed. Bryn Cymry Kirkland was...beautiful. That was the only word to describe him. Coming from a royal family, that was expected. But...no one expected the second son to more beautiful than even his mother. More beautiful than any woman in the land. Or...at least in my opinion. But even according to others, he was beautiful. I was forced into adult hood at a young age, having to be a servant and all, but it was nice watching him grow up. Though...he was kind of thrust into adulthood too. His older brother, Alistair, the eldest of the Kirkland children, left for war when Bryn was nine. Bryn, then being the eldest, started being trained to take over the kingdom. The training was, as he put it, "harsh" and "boring". It meant he had to sit in the throne room for hours, listening to lectures and military strategies. At least, that's what he told me. I wasn't allowed in the throne room during those times.

I was a servant and he was a prince training to become king. I loved him, but I was just a childhood friend to him. But even if he did ever return my feelings, we could never be together. Not only was there the prince/servant thing...But my family, the Carriedos, harbored a grudge against the Kirklands for forcing us into servanthood. But I couldn't help but love Bryn, despite his status and family. He was kind, sweet, caring, and willing to do anything for those he cared about...even me. It was strange to say the least for my master to care so much and be so protective of me. Those around us, the ones who didn't hate one or the other for our names, would say we had a deep bond. I always wrote that statement off.

Alistair came back from war when he was 19, making Bryn 16, and took his rightful place as heir. Bryn, having finally been pardoned from his training, decided to have some fun. I warned him not to, but he didn't heed my warnings. He was gone one morning when I woke and I was told that he had gone on a hunting trip and had told Feliciano, Alistair's servant, to tell me not to worry. But of course, I did. Now, the King, Bryn's father, hated the Carriedos, especially me, since I was so close to his son. He took Bryn being gone for an extended period of time as an opening. He chained me in the dungeon and personally beat me every day until Bryn got back. By the time that happened I was a mess, physically and emotionally. When Bryn came down to the dungeon and saw what was happening, he was outraged. He was screaming profanities and the only thing stopping him from jumping the king was his older brother's arms wrapped tightly around his chest. I had never seen the teen so angry before. His dark brown eyes were wide, shining with determination and what looked like fever, and his paler-than-normal skin was covered in a layer of sweat that glistened in the dim light of the lamp despite how freezing the stone dungron was. His platinum blonde hair was dissheveled and became more so as he fought against his brother's grip, growls erupting his throat as he glared at his father with wide eyes. I watched in shock when Alistair softly but quickly moved one arm lower, so that it was wrapped around my master's abdomen. My heart skipped a beat when he squeezed, making Bryn flinched and let out a soft whimper as his knees buckled and he fell into his brother's chest, obviously in pain. Alistair turned to Feliciano and handed Bryn to the small Italian, asking for him to be taken to his quarters. Feliciano nodded and ran off, surprisingly strong for his small structure as he carried Bryn's weight as though it were nothing. Alistair whispered a few words o his father as I struggled against the chains holding me to the wall, wanting nothing more than to be with Bryn. I screamed his name multiple times (Master Bryn, of course, not just Bryn) and gave up, falling against the wall with a quiet sob. The next thing I knew, the chains around my wrists and ankles were being removed and I was free, staring up at Alistair in awe as his father walked away, muttering racist slurs.

Alistair nodded at me to follow him, and I gladly did. "Bryn needs you." The Scottish accent in his voice was more clear, now, after he came back from the war. "That's what I told my dad. He needs you, and you need him." I nodded, taking quick steps to keep up with his long, quick strides. "Bryn saying he went on a hunting trip wasn't too far off. But he wasn't hunting game. He was hunting humans. He went to a battlefield near here, Antonio. He got hurt. Bad wound across his abdomen." Alistair stopped and sighed, running a hand through his unruly red hair. "I forced him to come back and get it treated so it wouldn't get infected." When he looked over at me, I noticed how his face looked like...well...a more masculine version of Bryn's. Older, more mature, a hint of red stubble sprinkled across his square chin. Bryn's was cleaner cut...more heart shaped..."I wasn't thinking, letting him go to battle. One, he's still just a kid...and two..." Alistair turned away from me now, a small, guilty smile gracing his face. "Well...it's Bryn. He's not the type that should deal with battles. He's not like me or my dad...or even Connor or Arthur. He shouldn't have to be exposed in any way to things like that. The thought makes me want to lock him up in Rapunzel's tower, protect him." Yeah, that sounded like a good idea. Then he'd never get hurt again.

We entered the room and stopped. Bryn was lying in the bed, his breathing even as he slept. He looked so peacful. Most of the sweat was gone now and his face was rehining color as he lay under the blankets. "Did it get infected, Feli?" Feliciano smiled brightly and shook his head at Alistair, who sighed in relief and turned toward the door. "Well, let's let Bryn sleep. Antonio can stay in her. Feli, you and I should leave, I think." I never once looked away from Bryn. I wasn't going to let him out of my sights again. The door behind me creaked open and shut, leaving Alistair's exiting words echo in the silence of the room. "He'll be okay, Antonio."

I waited hours and ended up falling asleep on the floor next to Bryn's bed, only to be woken up a couple hours later. I heard noise, but didn't register what it was at first, I glanced around the dark room, suddenly alert, despite just waking up. Seeing nothing, I started drifting back to sleep when it happened again. I stood this time and looked out the window. It would still be a few more hours until the sun rose. I heard the nois behind me now, in the direction of the bed, and spun, my emerald eyes widening as I stared at Bryn. He was moaning in pain, his face contorted as his arms clutched the wound. The bandages around that area (visible, since he wasn't wearing a shirt) were becoming saturated with blood. What was I supposed to do? I had no medical expertise! So I ran out of the room and down the hallways and stairs to the slaves' quarters, where I made my way to Feliciano's room and started knocking on the door. The young Italian answered quickly, rubbing his eyes to wake himself up. He took one look at my panicked face, however, and ran past me, heading for Bryn's room. When we were there, he started unwrapping the bandages and rewrapping with fresh, after cleaning the wound with warm water (luckily I had kept a fire going that night). I finally got a good look at the wound. It was sort of deep, not fatally deep, but not shallow, and stretched the length of his abdomen. It looked painful. Feliciano finished with the bandages and smiled softly at me, asking me to stay with Bryn while he fetched Alistair. There were no objections on my part about that. I stood next to the bed for a moment before those brown eyes I loved so much fluttered open. "T-Toni...?" I smiled an placed my hand on top of his, whispering to him that I was right next to him. His warm hand curled around mine, holding it tightly. His hands were soft and warm, delicate, especially for a guy. "I had a dream..." I asked what he dreamt about and his hands tightened around mine. "I was in a forest...there was a battle going on nearby...So I went to go see if Alistair was fighting in it. And he was. And Connor, and Arthur, and Father..." He trailed off and closed his already half-lidded eyes. "And on the other side...You, and Feli, and all the servants...You were fighting against my family...And then you saw me and you were going to kill me...and the sword...went right through my chest...and you smiled down at me and told me you were next and then you stabbed yourself and everything went black..." Bryn was tearing up at this point. "And then I woke up."

It took a while, but I convinced Bryn that I would never kill him and lured him back to sleep. "Be careful, Antonio." I spun to face a very tired-looking Alistair, who was standing in the doorway. "When he woke, did he look like he was almost in a trance?" I remembered his half-lidded, glazed eyes and nodded. "He can sometimes see the future in his dreams. I'm not saying it always comes true, though. The future can be changed, depending on what paths you choose. " I turned to stare at Bryn again. He was curled in on himself, shaking slightly. "Choose the right paths, Antonio, so that you won't have to kill him. Neither of us want him dead." I asked him how I would know if I was taking the right path or not, and he stared past me at his younger brother. "I honestly don't know." He walked past me, then, and sat on the edge of the bed, covering Bryn's shaking form with blankets. "But...Bryn is a treasure. The most precious thing in the world to me. If he dies this young, Antonio, it's going to be your fault." I turned to him and nodded, determined not to let anyone else take the blame.

It would be my fault.

-0-

It wasn't for a while after that when Bryn was healthy and back to his normal self. He sat in the parlor one evening with his younger brothers, Connor and Arthur, playing the piano for them. He was always so good at artsy things. I stood in the corner watching, fondly as the other servnts would say later, with Gilbert and Francis. The two were the personal servants to Connor and Arthur respectively andd not to mention my best friends...well, minus Bryn. But he's my master, so that doesn't count. Bryn leapt from song to song with no hesitation, flawless despite the lack of sheet music. His last and longest song was a gentle lullaby that he sang along to, gently luring ten year-old Arthur to sleep, since it was pretty late at that time. Francis chuckled and picked the boy up, muttering something along the lines of 'Young Master will be grumpy if he doesn't wake up in his own bed.' Gilbert and I smiled and waved at him as he left, then resumed our positions to serve. Connor, a cute 14 year old with a mop of red hair, spring green eyes, and a dusting of freckles across his face, smiled at us and dismissed Gilbert. Bryn quickly dismissed me, without even looking up. Things had been quite awkward between us since the incident.

Gilbert turned to me after we left the room, his crimson eyes burning. "I hate this damn family." His voice was as loud and boisterous as always, despite what he was talking about. "Forcing us to be their servants and treating us like trash..." We both knew that it wasn't true in all cases. We were lucky to have masters like Bryn and Connor, who actually treated us like humans. Others from our family weren't so lucky. "And our families wouldn't be in such a terrible situation if your great-grandfather wouldn't have left Spain and picked a fight with the Kirklands." Back in Spain, the Carriedo family was actually pretty prestigious. My great-grandfather, however, heard of an English family called the Kirklands who had...certain things he wanted. He conviced his two best friends, the head of the French Bonnefoy household, and the head of the German Beilschmidt household to go to England with him to try to destroy the house of Kirkland. They were easily defeated and forced to bring their own families to England to become slaves. That's how we had gotten into this mess. So, of course decendants of the Carriedos were treated way worse than the other families. Unless you did end up a personal servant to people like the princes. "I think the others are going to start a rebellion soon. Not that there haven't been any yet. There's been what...four? Five?"

"And we're always the ones that get killed." I sighed. "I wonder how the Kirklands always do it. Somehow we end up getting killed when they don't lose anyone." Gilbert and I both quieted as the door swung open. Bryn glanced up at me and motioned softly for me to follow. Connor followed after, smiling brightly. I looked back at him and questioned silently with my eyes if I had imagined the blush on his brother's cheeks or not. All Connor did was chuckle quietly and press a finger to his lips as I walked quickly after Bryn. The blonde led me up to his quarters and directed me to close the door after myself. I did so and turned back to him, wathcing as he ran his fingers repeatedly through his blonde hair, a habit that always made itself known when he was nervous. "Master Bryn? Are you alright?"

"Antonio, we're alone. You can call me Bryn. Just Bryn." His words were quiet, hard for me to hear even halfway across the room. Now he was pacing, yet another nervous habit of his. Not to mention the fact that he refused to look at me. What was going on? "Antonio, I've got a predicament. What are you supposed to do when you fall in love with someone you know you shouldn't love?" What was going on? "And you know that everyone in your family would disown you if they found out?" He turned to me now, his dark brown eyes wide and watery. "What would you do, Antonio?"

I stared at him for a moment before training my eyes on the floor, realizing I was in the same situation, except worse. "Well...I suppose it would depend on how much I loved that person and how it'd affect their life as well as mine. But...if I truly loved them...more than anything...I would let them know and see what was going to come of it." Was it hypocritical for me to give advice like that? Since I never let Bryn know?

There was a silence between us, heavy with tension before he walked towards me, reaching out and wrapping his arms around my neck. "Toni...I like you. I really do. But both of our families..." This couldn't be happening...no way...Bryn was telling me he liked me? "And the fact that we're both guys..."

It took a moment for the shock to wear off before I chuckled softly and wrapped my arms around his waist, pressing my lips against his in a chaste kiss. I could feel his shock and pulled away quickly, laughing at his bright red face. "If neither of our families will approve, then we'll have to keep it secret, yeah?" Bryn smiled up at me, his too perfect face shining with a happily nervous smile.

-0-

It was right after that when the rebellion started. The servant familes began rebelling against the Kirklands and I was expected to join them and leave Bryn. And I did. But the two of us would have a secret rendezvous in the forest between the Kirkland house and the Carriedo headquarters at least once a week. This went on until the rebellion got violent...very violent. We were in a full out war. We were supposed to meet in the forest for the first time in a month one day when a battle started nearby. The Kirkland princes were fighting some of my family members and I felt the need to try to be a peacemaker. Alistair and Connor listened to me and stopped...until Alistair was attacked. Then the battle started again, full force. I heard a footstep behind me and spun, staring at Bryn with wide eyes. He muttered my name and glanced at what was going on behind me. It was almost exactly like the dream he had after he got back from his first fight. But this would be different. I wasn't going to kill him. Suddenly he was yelling,his dark brown eyes tearing up as he tried to create peace. I wasn't surprised that it was working better for him than myself, since he had always been the voice of reason among his brothers. I was proud of how easily he could calm the people around him down and create peace. Or, at least, I thought it was peace until Bryn was run through with my relative's sword and sent Bryn sprawling to the ground when it was pulled out. I ran to him, calling his name, and fell to my knees next to him. He had no pulse, even as I shook him, trying to wake him. I finally broke down and started crying next to him. I felt a hand grab my hair and yank me upward as a rough voice yelled out a single word. "Traitor."

Alistair stood then and glared at my relative, his hands clenching into fists. "He's helping a friend. How the hell does that make him a traitor?" The man behind me pulled out a dagger and growled as he pressed it against my throat. "Listen, if you hurt him, you're going to die. I'll promise you that. " Those were the last words I heard before a sharp pain came through my throat and I fell to the ground next to Bryn, feeling a warm liquid running down my skin. I reached out towards Bryn and took his hand in mine, smiling as I drifted away.

-0-

Antonio cried out as he woke, jolting up into a sitting position on his bed, his tan body covered in a layer of cold sweat, despite how cold the night was. His emerald eyes closed as he collected himself before the person next to him woke. But it took too long and the blonde sat up, rubbing his boyfriend's back while yawning. "Another dream, Antonio? How many does this make?"

"Four. Maybe five." The brunette sighed and leaned into his boyfriend's touch and Welsh accent, comforted by the familiarity of both. "Maybe more."

"We both know it's more. You said you've been having these dreams since before you met me."

"It's getting worse, Bryn." Antonio sighed and glanced over at the blonde next to him. His brown eyes were still half-lidded with sleep and the plaid shirt he wore was too big on him, since it was Antonio's and Antonio was bigger, plus his blonde hair was a mess, with him having fallen asleep right after getting out of a shower. "We actually died in this one."

"Hm...Didn't you tell me the others had to do with forbidden love? So is this a Romeo and Juliet type thing, then?" Bryn yawned again and glanced up at his lover, a small smirk on his face. "Do you believe in reincarnation?"

The brunette stopped and looked at the Briton's regal face and delicate hands, chuckling internally at how prince-like the blonde looked even in an oversized plaid shirt and sweatpants. "Not really. I never thought about it. And besides, even if we were reborn, what makes you think we'd be together again?"

"When a soul finds it's mate, it remembers the feeling and makes sure to find it again. I think that's what happened."

Antonio laughed and rubbed circles in his boyfriend's hand. "So you're saying we're soulmates?" Bryn shrugged and nodded, his face serious. "You're so weird, Bryn. Well, I'm going to try to get some more sleep. Goodnight, Bryn." The brunette kissed his boyfriend's forehead and went back to bed, falling asleep quickly.

"I know I'm right." Bryn's words were simply a chuckle in the night as he also went back to bed.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I doubt anybody's reading this story, but I'm having fun with it. The next chapter will kind of be a continuation of this one, and I'm planning on going more into their current relationship. I have ideas for about...three more chapters, so I'm going to keep this going until those are done.**

**-0-**

He glared up at me with furious emerald eyes, a fire burning deep inside as his breaths turned to pants. I felt my eyes widen as I stared down at him. I told my men to kill everybody, so why was this child still living. He was covered in blood, his pale blonde hair stained crimson. His pale face was covered and his clothes were tattered and burned, torn with knive wounds and burns. "Who the hell do you think you are?" He was furious, his words hissed. "Killing an entire town? Murdering my family?" He was...interesting. Nobody had ever stood up to me after watching me murder anyone, let alone watch the massacre of an entire town. "Who the bloody hell do you think you are?" Oh, right, we were in England. That explains the accent.

"My name is Antonio. Antonio Fernandez Carriedo. And I'm the captain of the ship Senora Margarita. I'm a pirate." Emerald eyes narrowed. "And you are?" He stilled, glaring at me and spitting on my boot. I forced him to his knees, pulling on his hair to force him to look at my face. "It's good manners to introduce yourself after someone else introduces themself." He glared at me and I smiled. "Now tell me your name, Kirkland."

"Bryn. Bryn Alistair Kirkland." So he was the youngest child of the Kirkland house. "And fuck you."

"Do you want to kill me?" He nodded. "Good boy." His eyes widened and he stared up at me as I let go of his hair and smiled. "Stay with me. You interest me. And you'll have plenty of opportunities to kill me, if you're willing to take them and think that you can kill me."

"Why? Why are you asking me to go with you?"

That was a good question. I knew he would try to kill me. "Because you interest me. There's something about you that makes me want to keep you around. And nobody has ever survived before." I held my hand out to him. "Are you going to?" I smiled when he took my hand.

-0-

"Bryn! Bryn, where are you!" I ran through the town, fear gripping my chest. It had been almost a year since I had killed Bryn's family and...abducted him. We had gotten really close over that period of time and now that he was gone, I was frantic. He had hardly ever left my side after one of my men had almost tried to kill him one day after being on the ship for a couple days. "Shit!" I had been everywhere, asked everyone if anyone had seen him. No one had unless it was with me. I skidded to a stop at the dock, feeling my eyes flash dangerously when I saw another pirate ship docked next to mine. One that had docked right as Bryn and I had gotten off our ship. The one that belonged to my worst enemy. "God dammit..."

I stormed onto his boat, yelling for him to come out. He smiled at me and walked out, clapping slowly. "God job figuring it out, Antonio."

"Where the hell is Bryn?"

"He's safe, don't worry." Francis smiled at me coldly, his eyes calculating. "You finally found out where he is, but now you need to figure out where on the ship he is. And you need to hurry. If you don't, I'll kill him. I'll be in my quarters if you need me." He turned and started walking away, leaving me to cuss him out and race past him. Usually, I would've taken the opportunity to kill or at least mortally wound him, but Bryn was more important.

...When did I start thinking that way?

My first stop, naturally, was the brig, but it was empty. Everything was empty. I raced to the captain's quarters. Francis was sitting on a large chest on the opposite side of the room, a smirk on his face. "Can't find him?" The bastard...I would kill him as soon as Bryn was safe. "I didn't expect you to. You've got another...minute before I decide to kill him." It was then that I started hearing loud thumps coming from the chest he was sitting on. With how small Bryn was, he coupld easily curl up inside. I pushed Francis off of the chest forcefully, sending the annoyed looking Frenchman to the floor as I unlatched the wood chest and flung it open, gapsing when I stared inside. Bryn was lying there, wrists and ankles bound with a gag over his mouth, staring up at me with the wide emerald eyes of the scared 15 year-old he was. He really was still just a kid, a fact I seemed to have forgotten while he was on the ship with me. "He was being quite noisy." I growled and sent a dark glare towards Francis. That's one thing you'll learn about pirates. We're feircely protective.

"Francis...I hope like hell you're ready to die." Why was I planning on killing him, exactly? Well, one reason is because he took what I had rightfully claimed as mine. And the other reason is because he had hurt something that belonged to me. Bryn's face and what was showing of his skin was covered in bruises and scratches. He was covered in injuries that hadn't been there before he had been taken. Francis had hurt him. And that was unacceptable. "Because I'm sending you straight to Hell." Bryn started struggling, then, against his restraints and I growled before leaning over and untying his wrists. He could do the rest. I left him to untie himself as I pulled my pistol out of its holster. In one quick movement, I had Francis pinned below my foot, my pistol leveled at his head as he squirmed, trying to get away. "You've always been a coward, you damned Frenchie." I was about to pull the trigger when I suddenly felt arm wrap around my chest. I felt my eyes widen in shock as Bryn pressed himself closer, his arms around my chest and his head pressing into my back. "Bryn? What's wrong?"

"Don't...kill..." I let my arm fall to my side, releasing my aim on Francis's head. "I can't stand death...And I certainly don't want anybody killing someone because of me."

"He hurt you, Bryn. He kidnapped you and he hurt you." I felt anger starting to overflow, making my hands clench into fists and my words come out more as growls. "He needs to die."

"No he doesn't!" I gasped as Bryn's grip around me became even tighter. "Hurting me is no excuse! Hell, even killing me wouldn't be an excuse!" He was wrong. If he had been killed, this bastard would be tortured to death. "Killing is wrong...I hate...I hate death...I've seen too many people die..." His voice was wavering, probably from the probablity he was about to cry. "And even if I don't know them, it hurts." Francis's shocked expression was probably the one on my face too at this point. "So I don't think anybody deserves to die. If not for themselves, then for the people that care about them. And for the chance that they'll change. Everyone deserves that chance. Everyone deserves a chance to live." How could someone so innocent, so naive, survive in this world? That's right...if he didn't have me, he wouldn't. I was his protector now. So if he didn't want me to kill, who was I to go against his wishes? God, the things this kid does to me..."That's why I never killed you, even when I had the opportunity. I thought you deserved a second chance...and...I was right..." I couldn't help but smile and place a hand ontop of one of his. "I...love you..."

-0-

Antonio didn't gasp as he woke this time. Instead he simply sat up slowly and smiled, running his thumb across his lover's cheek. "I love you too, Bryn." He hoped that such a soft touch and a whisper wouldn't wake the blonde, but he was wrong. He was suddenly being stared down by a pair of intense emerald eyes. He smiled brightly and pushed blonde bangs back to kiss the man's forehead. "I love you." Bryn stared up at Antonio questioningly before shrugging and turning onto his other side, quickly falling asleep. "Maybe he was right...Maybe we have met before, in different lives..." He ran a hand through blonde hair, smiling sleepily at his thoughts. "And maybe we did fall in love every time."


End file.
